NOT: Alice in Wonderland

Today our resident film guru Yalin brings us his view on Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. While I quite enjoyed the 3D effect and admired Alice’s beautiful dresses, I did feel that it lacked the magical wonderment of the original Lewis Carroll book, with its predictable good vs [...]

NOT: Fifteen Melbourne, Basement, 115-117 Collins Street, Melbourne

To eat and do good? A $15 two course lunch at Fifteen Melbourne was too good to pass up.
For those who don’t know, Fifteen is a worldwide social enterprise business started by famous uber-energetic chef Jamie Oliver. Its aim is to provide apprenticeship scheme for young people, between the ages of 18 and 24, to [...]

NOT: Min Lokal, 422 George St, Fitzroy

My friend M is moving into Fitzroy next week and for our Sunday catchup he wanted to try a place around his new hood. Min Lokal is Swedish for ‘my local’ and I thought it’d be the perfect venue for this northside newbie.
Evidently lots of other locals treat Min Lokal as their neighbourhood cafe too, [...]

HOT: Funky Curry and Vindaloo Against Violence, 164 Bourke St, Melbourne

Today’s post is a bit of a mishmash – my views on a serious issue as well as a light-hearted food review.
Firstly, you may or may not have been aware that last Wednesday 24 February was Vindaloo Against Violence day.
Melbourne, Victoria and Australia has been subject to some shameful local and international press recently due [...]

HOT: A Single Man, Rivoli Cinemas, 200 Camberwell Road, East Hawthorn

Colin Firth won a BAFTA a few days ago with his role as George Falconer in A Single Man. If you watch this film you’ll see why.
The first foray of Tom Ford, uber-fashion designer, into film is an intense and elegiac work about the nature of love, loneliness, repression and the small poignant moments in [...]

HOT: Mamma’s Boy, 13 Little Collins St, Melbourne

I’m not sure who ‘Mamma’s Boy’ refers to, but for me the name of this cafe’s name conjures up images of mothers all around the world urging their sons to ‘Eat up!’ ‘Mange!’ ‘Chī fàn!’.
Certainly their cabinet selection of fresh-looking pre-made sandwiches, appetising sit-down lunch menu and cartoon recipe blackboard encourages you to get hungry [...]

HOT: Ramen Ya, Shop 25G Melbourne’s GPO, 350 Bourke St, Melbourne

After the success of the inaugural Dumplings Fest, a bunch of food bloggers/tweeps gathered for the next [Insert Food] fest – this time in honour of ramen.
Sadly, good ramen joints are hard to find in Melbourne (although I’m predicting that they’re the next big dining trend, after izakayas and gastropubs have their time in the [...]

HOT: Trippy Taco, 48 Smith St, Collingwood

You want HOT? You got HOT!
At hippy Trippy Taco, you can get XXX HOT. Just pour some of the XXXtra HOT chilli sauce that’s provided at each table on top of your quesadilla, taco, taquito, burrito or nachos. It delivers nose-sniffling, mouth-numbing heat and is the perfect antidote for the drooping summer swelter.

Trippy Taco is [...]

HOT: Beatbox Kitchen, around Melbourne

Mobile food vans are nothing new. But a mobile food van that looks like a big stereo is pretty cool.
Raph owns the Beatbox Kitchen and serves up burgers and fries in locations trackable only via Twitter. He pulled up in front of the Lamington Drive gallery opening  of Risographica! on a wet evening and I [...]

HOT: Roundhouse Roti, 220 Gertude St, Fitzroy

Roti is the flavour of the month for me (see my review of Old Town Kopitiam Mamak) so I was delighted to discover a Malaysian style roti joint close to home.
Roundhouse Roti has been open for a couple of months and is run by a young Fitzroy local Lee  Chong (his mum runs the famous [...]